Effects of the seasonal variation on forming the steady state of an atmosphere-ocean coupled system

Abstract

A three-dimensional, coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model is developed and effects of the seasonal variation on forming a steady-state coupled atmosphere-ocean system are studied. Case studies are carried out for a basin of idealized geometry by changing the period of the seasonal variation in the solar forcing. The coupled system shows significant differences depending on the existence of the seasonal variation, where the heat transport by the oceanic circulation plays a central role. For the regular seasonal variation, a stronger oceanic meridional circulation, which accompanies larger poleward heat transport, is realized compared with that for the annual-mean solar forcing. The stronger meridional circulation is associated with a larger wintertime meridional gradient of the sea surface temperature. The meridional gradient of the annual-mean sea surface temperature is smaller for the regular seasonal variation, which results in a smaller atmospheric poleward heat transport. In consequence, the total of the atmospheric and the oceanic poleward heat transport is almost identical for the two cases. Cases with the seasonal variation of the doubled period and with the time-filtered flux exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean are also studied, showing that the system is not sensitive to those factors.